The Ballston Area Community Center (formerly the Area Center for Teens) was established in 1981 to provide supervised activities for youth during non-school hours. The Center developed as a teen drop-in program and provided a range of recreational and educational activities. Recognizing the need to expand services to younger children, a school-age childcare program began operation in 1985 serving twenty children.
The organization developed additional programming and successful grant writing and fundraising led to the development of the new building on Malta Avenue. The Ballston Area Community Center continues to strive to meet the needs of people living in Ballston Spa and the surrounding areas.
The program now serves children throughout the Ballston Spa School District, and surrounding areas, from pre-kindergarten through high school. The large gym and teen lounge, allows the teen program now serves over 200 adolescents per year. The school-age program serves 90 children during its morning and afternoon sessions at the Malta Ave site, 75 children at the Gordon Creek Elementary School site and 60 children at the Wood Road Elementary School site. During the summer, the school-age program becomes an all-day summer program for 90 children and the teen travel program provides supervised, daily field trips for 70 adolescents. Ballston Area Community Center provides free Universal Pre-Kindergarten programming for 66 eligible children each school year through a partnership with Ballston Spa Central School District.
A volunteer board of directors serves to guide the organization and well-qualified staff oversee program design, development, and implementation.
